Tag Archives: melody

On the first real song(Sleazie Wonder) of his new album STUCK, Nickelus F says “Shoulda got a mixtape award but peace to Justo.” He’s absolutely right. In 2013 he released one of my favorite mixtapes of all time (Vices). I listened to it constantly and scoured the internet looking for who produced it, no way this dude with twisted up tissues jammed in his nose created these beats! I’ve never lost the name Nickelus F since the day I realized Vices was him head to toe.

When STUCK came out I had that Nickelus F back. The texture of the music is mid-tempo with gorgeous samples twisted and planted in perfect spots. The songs ring of the nihilism Weeknd traffics with the controlled additive bounce of peak Paul Wall. I told people in my office his story, starting with the old days blowing Drake off tracks and just grinding, being that guy who cares as much about the melody as he does the lyrical content.

Yea Aight is probably the most succinct proof of my previous statement. The hook is gorgeous over piano keys and savagely rolling bass, stitched in samples, and this dude does not have anything my mom would consider a great voice. Nickelus F sounds like a lifetime cigarette smoker with the worst nasal congestion you can imagine. He has the kind of voice I wouldn’t want for speaking let alone singing but he is a solid gold genius who can throw it all over the field of play. On That’s Fact he sticks the landing on every short choppy line of trap cadence only to switch up and stretch out on the next track (On Our Own).

STUCK has definite high points. The second half is amazing. The people in my office who I forced into listening to it came out genuinely surprised and enriched. Hands is one of the very best songs released in 2018 by anyone. The perfect mix of a warped soul sample an ill chorus and bars that mean business by a guy who owned the mic at 106 & Park for 7 weeks(Freestyle Friday hall of fame). Horace Hardbody The Statue is inarguably the best lyrical performance. This dude said “Cigarettes burn and tap ashes like congas.” All this being said STUCK isn’t a performative soap opera narrative or politically uplifting or autobiographical balling. It doesn’t have take over the world singles. It is about the light continual malaise of living in this world. On Horace Hardbody he says “If you’re like me likely you don’t sleep.” STUCK is an oddball’s celebration of the chaos left where peace could have been. It is the single best second listen in 2018 hip hop for me because everything I missed the first time was there and richly defined.

I love that he does all this himself. I love that he has been lacing verses about subtle misery without shaving off the hard edges WAY before anyone else and is now better at it than ninety percent of the game (If you think I’m nuts listen to The Darkie). I want everyone who loves Drake to know STUCK and know that below the top tier of blockbuster pop rap is the real interesting stuff; a whole world of people taking chances without anyone to stop them or force them into bad guest features or big name producers. People who have so much nasal blockage we should probably set up a way to donate so we can help…but are absolute wizards in every regard of music and they don’t toil in obscurity. Not for me. To me they are giants. To me Nickelus F in 2018(like he was in 2013) is a giant.

Young Thug’s takeover of the weirdo trap rap game in 2014 hip hop often times feels like a victory for gibberish and funny noises. It’s a bit surreal to read reviews of Riff Raff that criticize him for being silly and nonsensical when Young Thug is making hits with lyrics like “Everything that comes out your mouth is a fairy, no tooth. I fought them blackberries when I pull up and serve you.”

This song comes off a mixtape collaboration called Rich Gang: The Tour part 1 its Thug and Rich Homie Quan doing the work and Birdman lurking behind the scenes as an organization figure and dropping in for forgettable verses. The mixtape is a prelude to a national stadium tour later on in the year. Young Thug has amazing cadences that are as experimental as Slim Shady LP era Eminem but his verses are a word scrabble.

It’s fine to wave the flag for Southern Rap as being as good as or better than anything out there but let’s hold artists accountable. Don’t pretend he’s doing something I just don’t “get.” What is your favorite Young Thug verse? What does that verse mean? This is a gifted melody creator, vocal stuntman addicted to crafting voices that go terrifyingly wrong or fantastically right but he’s not saying anything (this isn’t a jokes v. dramatic content debate). It’s a good mixtape and a great track but just because it feels epic…doesn’t mean it is.